The appearance of American Pharaoh, the first Triple Crown winner in 37 years, lifted New Jersey’s Monmouth Park Haskell Invitational into the limelight, but did little to reverse the track’s fortunes.
The track in Oceanport NJ saw a record total of over $20 million wagered on the race in July, but its total handle for the year was only up a quarter of a percent and the average daily handle was down 2.2 percent from a year ago at the 58-day meet, according to the Asbury Park Press.
“It’s about the future. American Pharaoh on the bottom line this year, we lost money,” Dennis Drazin, adviser to the New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, which leases Monmouth Park told the newspaper. “But what we did for Monmouth Park is continue to solidify the fact that we are a world-class venue that was able to get the top horse in the world in training and that 61,000 people came out. And it’s the Monmouth Park brand. It wasn’t a disaster like some of the big events that you read about where the fans are unhappy with the way it was handled and are turned off.”
The track’s average daily attendance did increase by 3.8 percent, to 9,646, which indicates fans may have been wagering less than last year. Haskell Day attracted 60,893, but the numbers suggest many fans just wanted to see American Pharaoh without betting.
Monmouth Park has been in the forefront of New Jersey’s attempts to offer sports betting and is still waiting the results of the state’s latest appeal challenging a federal ban. The track has already built a sports betting facility.
